Brazil great Marta to retire from international football at end of year

Marta, who has been playing in the United States with Orlando Pride since 2017, hopes to make her sixth appearance at the Olympics at this year’s Paris Games.

FILE PHOTO: Marta is the all-time highest scorer for Brazil with 116 goals in 175 matches. | Photo Credit: AFP

Brazil’s all-time top scorer in both men’s and women’s football, Marta, will retire from internationals this year, the 38-year-old striker said ahead of the Paris Olympics.

Marta, who has been playing in the United States with Orlando Pride since 2017, hopes to make her sixth appearance at the Olympics at this year’s Paris Games.

“If I go to the Olympics, I will enjoy every moment, because, regardless of whether I go to the Olympics or not, this is my last year with the national team,” Marta told CNN in an interview on Thursday.

“There will be no more Marta from 2025 in the national team as an athlete. I am very calm about this, because I see with great optimism this development that we are having in relation to young athletes.”

Marta, affectionately known as “Queen Marta”, is the all-time highest scorer for Brazil with 116 goals in 175 matches.

She is also the top scorer in the Women’s World Cup with 17 goals, finishing runner-up in 2007. She has won three Copa America Femenina titles and was part of the Brazil team that claimed silver medals at the 2004 and 2008 Games.

Marta began her club career with Vasco da Gama, with spells at Swedish sides Umea IK, Tyreso FF and Rosengard. In the U.S., she has also played for Los Angeles Sol, Western New York Flash and Gold Pride.